Lulu’s Barkin’ BBQ is a howling success

[media-credit name=”David Zalubowski, Special to The Denver Post” align=”aligncenter” width=”495″][/media-credit]

Joe Cocker, left, with Fred and Jana Bartlit and their dog, Lulu.

Please tell me I’m not the only one who thought it was pretty cool that an entertainer with the last name of Cocker was the headliner for the 10th anniversary Lulu’s Barkin’ BBQ. See, it’s a benefit for the Denver Dumb Friends League, and every now and then there’s a cocker spaniel up for adoption there, and …

OK, maybe that’s too much of a stretch. But in any event, veteran rocker Joe Cocker put on quite a show for the 550 who gathered at Fred and Jana Bartlit’s Castle Pines home for this annual chuckwagon barbecue, auction and show that this year raised a record $600,000 for the DDFL’s Buddy Center, a shelter in Douglas County that served 4,500 animals in 2010 alone.

Fred Bartlit, considered one of the nation’s leading trial lawyers, was recently appointed chief counsel to the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He also was trial counsel on the 1989 investigation into the cause of the Piper Alpha North Sea Oil Platform disaster, in which 160 people died. Those findings led to widepread changes in industrial drilling practices in the North Sea.

In addition to hosting Lulu’s Barkin’ BBQ, the Bartlits have also funded several other Dumb Friends League services, including a mobile spay and neuter unit, the Lulu Mobile, that serves pets in low-income neighborhoods. Interestingly, Philip Beck, the “Beck” in the Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott law firm, was so inspired by the Lulu Mobile that he and his family funded a similar unit, the Gus Mobile, in Chicago, where the firm also has offices. The Gus Mobile, part of the PAWS Chicago shelter, serves pet owners in the Windy City’s poorest neighborhoods.

In addition to the two-legged guests, several furry, four-legged creatures also made the scene, arriving in the DDFL’s mobile adoption unit. Twelve of them, including Mama, a pug; Issa, an 8-year-old cattle dog; and three Siamese kittens, were adopted.

“Jana and Fred are not only extraordinary hosts, they have hearts of gold,” observes Bob Rohde, the DDFL’s president and chief executive officer. “We are humbled by their generosity and grateful for their having made the event so memorable.”

Jana Bartlit is vice chair and a lifetime member of the DDFL board.

After enjoying cocktails and conversation, and a silent auction, the dinner bell rang and everyone filed into the dinner tent for a buffet featuring tenderloin and fried chicken from chef Tom Perini of Texas. Perini’s credits include six invitations to cook at the James Beard House in New York and catering for former President George W. Bush.

Jim Odle and John Clatworthy of Odle & Cumberlin Auctioneers in Bush, CO, kept the live auction lively, scoring such amazing bids as $25,000 for the purchase of animal care supplies at the Buddy Center; $17,000 for the honor of having the high bidder’s pet appear on the cover of the DDFL’s 2012 calendar and $12,000 for another pet to be the calendar’s centerfold.

Denver Art Museum president Cathey Finlon and her husband, Dick; Roger Hutson and Leslie McKay; Jack and Darci Overstreet; Jim Palenchar and Liz Lynner; Barbara Schmitt; and Don Scott were among the Club Lulu VIP-level guests on hand for the festivities; Club Lulu Premiere-level attendees included Kathi Brock; Shelley Magness and Eric Head; Dr. Peter Sendroy; Jim and Karen Possehl; and the Lawrence Covells.

Joe Cocker’s wife, Pam, purchased a patron table and her guests included BJ Dyer and Guenther Vogt. The owners of Bouquets have been friends with the Cockers for many years, meeting when BJ’s cousin, Sue Green, became Pam Cocker’s personal assistant.